


"If You Are Not too Long, I Will Wait Here For You My Whole Life."

by Katiebug445



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day 2021
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiebug445/pseuds/Katiebug445
Summary: A short story of different times where Reiner has patiently waited for the love of his life.
Relationships: Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	"If You Are Not too Long, I Will Wait Here For You My Whole Life."

It started as early as Reiner could remember.    
  
When they were young, Bertholdt was always waiting for him to keep or catch up, his long legs pushing him fast as they ran and played games and leaving him behind unintentionally, waiting for him to finish studying on sleepover nights when he was stressed and couldn’t focus, or waiting outside for him to wake up on Saturday mornings so they could play. 

Bertholdt had always waited for him back then, but as they got older, things started to change. 

Reiner found himself being the one to wait for him to wake up in the mornings, waiting around for his best friend’s good morning texts that came later and later and make him even more impatient waiting for those two little words that made his day really begin. 

_ Good morning :-) _

That notification always sent warmth spreading through his body, and he quickly typed out a reply to let him know he was awake and ready to go. 

It never was too long after that Reiner would hear a knock on his door and know Bertholdt was there, and he would be greeted with the softest, warmest smile he could ever imagine. 

“Morning.” Bertholdt greeted, giving him a sleepy wave, his long fingers splayed just enough that Reiner knew if he reached out, his own would fit perfectly between them. 

“Morning yourself.” Reiner smiled, swallowing in hopes of stopping his voice from hitching up too much. His mouth was dry and his stomach light in the way that felt like he was about to hit a steep drop on a rollercoaster. “You want some coffee? You look like you could use it.” 

“That sounds good.” Bertholdt smiled, and stepped into the house when Reiner stood back, just enough that he could brush passed him. “Thank you.” 

Reiner returned the look, and when Bertholdt’s back was to him, his face softened and pure affection filled in every line and crease. With a breath, he followed after him, sliding passed him in the kitchen and making them both some coffee. 

  
  


~ 

The engine ran idly in Reiner’s falling apart SUV while he waited outside the grocery store where Bertholdt worked. He insisted that he could walk home and it wasn’t that big of a deal, but the snow was up to his shins and it was below freezing, and Reiner refused to subject him to it when he had a perfectly good running car that could get him home faster and warmer. 

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the music coming from his speakers, and kept his eyes on the front doors for a little while, content to wait there all night if he had to, just as long as he knew Bertholdt was alright and home safe. 

Another ten minutes went by before movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he looked up, smiling a bit when he realized who it was. His lips twitched up into a smile and he flashed his lights before rolling down his window and sticking his head out. “Bertl!” He called, waving him over, using the nickname he came up with for him when they were kids. “Want a ride?” 

Bertholdt chuckled to himself and shook his head, running across the nearly empty lot and climbing up into the passenger seat with ease. “I told you you didn’t have to wait for me! It’s so late!” 

Reiner’s lips curled up into another little smile when Bert said that, and he shot a quick glance his way. “And I told  _ you  _ that I wasn’t gonna make you walk home in the cold. It’s freezing out here tonight, Bert. I couldn’t sleep anyway thinking about you in this weather.” 

Bertholdt couldn’t deny that he was touched to hear that, and settled in for the drive, taking off his vest and tossing it to the floor for the moment, and leaned back in his seat. “Well, thanks.” He said, admittedly grateful to be out of the cold and in the warmth and safety of his best friend’s car with him. “But it’s kind of dangerous for you to be out here too, isn’t it? You could hit some ice or something on the drive.” 

“Have you seen this thing?” Reiner snorted, patting the dash of his car affectionately. “She’s a fuckin’ tank. Even if I would hit something, it’s not gonna do any damage to me at all.” 

“Point.” Bertholdt agreed, a smile curling his lips and warmth spreading through his heart. 

  
  


~

It hit Reiner late one night when Bertholdt was staying over. It was the night before graduation and they decided to be accountable for each other and making sure that they would be ready to go on time. They were staying at Bertholdt’s, deciding to make up a communal bed on the living room floor since there wasn’t an extra bed big enough to house Reiner’s large form. They spread out several big blankets on the floor and lay down, and before too long, his large friend was snoring beside him. 

Reiner was woken up at 3:00 with a foot kicking him in the head. The other boy was asleep beside him, one leg stretched out as far as it would go behind him, and the other in front of him, squishing his cheek. He was sound asleep, and Reiner had no idea how, given the acrobatics he was exhibiting. 

Bertholdt pushed his foot deeper against him as he shifted, groaning out something inaudible, and Reiner had to bite down on the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He found it odd that he wasn’t more upset about how he’d been woken up, and the occasional soft kick as Bertholdt repositioned himself or twitched in any way, but he wasn’t complaining. Not when Bertholdt was so cute. 

Oh god, he was  _ cute.  _

Reiner sat up a little and looked over at his friend with wide eyes, his heart racing in his chest when he realized that yes, in fact, he was very cute, and the feeling was twisting up in his stomach in the most peculiar way.

“Shit,” Reiner breathed to himself, already dreading what this meant for him and his friend both in the coming months and years of their friendship. He ran his hand back through his hair, and stared up at the ceiling as the full weight of his realization crashed down on him. 

  
  
  


It had taken Bertholdt a bit longer. 

His friendship with Reiner was really the highlight of his life, and it brought him joy every morning to send him those little texts and count down the seconds until he replied, and always felt a little jolt of excitement in his body when he did. Every time Reiner asked if he wanted to hang out, he got that same feeling, that same joy, at the thought of being able to spend time with him. 

He knew the way he felt for Reiner was different, more than he felt for any of his other friends, but he convinced himself that it was just because they were closer, best of best friends, and naturally things would be much different. It was completely normal, right? 

Right? 

That question was beginning to weigh heavily on his mind at night as he lay in bed, loneliness creeping up on him more and more as the days passed, wishing that he had someone to fall asleep next to every night like their friends did. Bertholdt curled up and hugged his pillow, forcing his eyes to close as he imagined what it would be like, and was surprised to find that the body he imagined was one very familiar to him: Reiner. 

The first night it happened, he pulled himself out of it fairly quickly, not knowing what to make of the image in his head and the feeling of his head laying on Reiner’s chest as they both drifted off, and lay awake in his bed for another hour, trying to make sense of it. 

The second night, he let it go on a bit longer. His mind easily conjured up Reiner once again as he was half asleep, and rather than fight it off immediately he let it happen, let himself imagine how it would feel to have his big, strong arm wrapped around him, holding him securely to him and running over his shoulder in a way that relaxed him even more. He found himself longing for it more than he could imagine, and really  _ wanting  _ it to be Reiner that held him every night. 

After that, he really began to think. Their relationship was different, of course, their bond stronger than the bonds he had with anyone else, and Reiner was most definitely his favorite person to be around, and his breath caught in his throat when Reiner smiled, or the sun caught his eyes and made them shine like sunlight through a glass of whiskey, but that didn’t mean he was in love with him. 

Did it? 

The next time they were together and Bertholdt was hyper aware of his desires, he realized all too soon that there was weight to his suspicion on how he really felt. Reiner was  _ gorgeous  _ to him now that he really thought about it, and he smelled like honey and a little bit of cologne, and it was so perfect to him that he never wanted to be far enough away that he couldn’t breathe him in anymore. 

When he smiled at him, Bertholdt’s mouth went dry and his stomach clenched up, and he knew right then and there what was really going on. 

  
  
  


Neither of them ever came out and explicitly said anything, but something changed in the way they looked at each other after that day, the way they interacted. The air around them was charged, tight, like a rubber band about to snap, and it finally did when Reiner took him to get some food after another late night shift and ended up kissing him softly on the mouth, and Bertholdt kissed him back. 

-

Reiner stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching, awestruck, at the scene in front of him. Bertholdt was standing, panting, at the stove and covered in foam. Their cabinets, the countertop, and Reiner’s good skillet, were also covered in the same stuff, and he would smell the faint odor of smoke and burned meat coming from the room.   
  
The smoke alarm was going off in the back of the house, beeping incessantly and beginning to hurt his ears, and one of the only things keeping the house from being dead silent. It felt and looked like a war zone, and he was almost scared to ask what was going on. 

“Bertholdt?” Reiner asked eventually, nervous and quiet, as he took everything in. 

The taller man jumped when he heard his name being called, and he quickly turned around, looking at Reiner with wide, embarrassed eyes, his entire front, his hair, his pajama pants, everything, were soaking wet and foamy from the fire extinguisher. “M-morning, love!” He said, trying his best to sound normal. 

“What  _ happened? _ ” Reiner asked, fighting to keep his lips from twitching into a smile. 

Bertholdt took a quick look around him and swallowed, his face going bright red, and let out a breath. “Breakfast?” 

“No offence, Bertl, but… I think you should leave the cooking to me from now on, alright?” 

“I’m sorry.” Bertholdt said, frowning and hating that he’d ruined their Valentine’s day. “I-I wanted to surprise you with breakfast, but... The bacon caught fire, and before I knew it, the bottoms of the cabinets were smoking, too. Water only made things worse.” 

“You set a grease fire?” Reiner said with a snort, unable to help himself. “If Jean could hear you now, he’d be having a fit.” Bertholdt still didn’t look anymore at ease, so he stepped up to him and gently took his hand. “Bert, it’s okay.” He promised gently, not wanting him to blame himself. 

“I almost set the house on fire!” Bertholdt argued. “I could have gotten us killed!” 

“But you didn’t.” Reiner countered, reaching out and brushing a bit of foam off of his nose and wiping it on his own pants. “Now come on, I need you to stop the fucking alarm before it gives me a migraine.” 

Bertholdt huffed a tiny laugh and squeezed Reiner’s hand back, following after him to get the smoke alarm turned off, then waited for him to get cleaned up in their bathroom. 

~

Five years later, he found himself waiting once again. He stood alone, nervous and staring at the door, his whole body shaking in fear of what was coming. He had his speech memorized and had for the last two weeks, but he still couldn’t help the fear that as soon as he saw him, he was going to forget everything. His eyes found those of his friends sitting a little ways away, and judging by the looks they gave back, they knew how nervous he really was. 

Reiner clenched his fists and took a breath, trying to ignore the beads of sweat rolling down the back of his neck and dampening his tux. 

Music played softly from the speakers set up around the room, a playlist they’d made together just for the occasion, and with every note of the song, his panic grew louder and louder. Was he breathing? Had he forgotten to take enough breaths in? Was he getting dizzy? Was this what being lightheaded felt like? 

Just as he was beginning to really worry, the music changed and got louder, and suddenly all eyes in the room were off of him and facing back towards the door as Bertholdt came down the aisle, hand in hand with Annie, who was pulling double duty in giving them both away. 

They stopped when they got to the foot of the small set of stairs leading up to the altar, and after a quick embrace, Bertholdt was walking up to him with a teary smile and a red face, and Reiner knew immediately that he’d been crying before they came out. 

Once he was in place and just a few inches away from him, Reiner reached out as the minister began to speak, and brushed his finger under his eye, wiping the tears from it. “You okay?” He murmured softly, a little nervous about his answer. 

Bertholdt closed his eyes as Reiner touched him, the warmth from his hand spreading throughout his whole body and serving to affirm even more that he was making the right choice, that this was what his happiness was going to be. “Fine, love. Just a little emotional is all.” Bertholdt murmured back, sighing contentedly when Reiner let his hand cradle his cheek. Bertholdt leaned into the touch and a soft smile curled at his lips, and only got bigger as the words of the minister began to cut through their moment. 

Reiner was offered to say his vows first, and he decided to go ahead and get it out of the way before he broke completely, but couldn’t stop the tears from forming in his eyes as he got nearly halfway through, Bertholdt having to take the chance to wipe his tears away now. Reiner only cried harder then, the soft touch of his lover making him more emotional than he could express, and had to take a moment to calm down before he continued. 

Bertholdt was even worse. Seeing Reiner break like he had only served to set him off again, and by the time it was his turn, his hands shook and his eyes were so watery he could barely see the words he’d written on the pages. He managed to stutter himself through two paragraphs, but when it got to the deeper aspects of how their relationship had blossomed over the last five years, he had to pause and make them wait until he was able to talk again. 

But that was okay, they both knew Reiner didn’t mind. 

  
  



End file.
